[thegame460]

Long time follower, first time poster. I’ve recently had the “Buzzsaw” bearing repaired done on my 2014. After picking up the car and driving for a few days my normal range of 5 m/kWh has gone down to 3-3.5 m/kWh. Thus my actual mileage of 48-52 prior is now 30-32. I returned it to the dealer to know avail. Decided to purchase an OBD2 Dongle and give My Green Volt a go. It confirmed that my instant m/kWh does not go above the 3.5 mark. Tested the same device on a friends 2013 and was able to achieve 5.8-6 m/kWh on that drive. In regards to variables that can affect the above. Tire PSI is 48 Cold, 51 Hot. No A/C Use. No route change. Weather has stayed the same during this time. 90k Miles. 250+ Lifetime. I feel something is not right. Any thoughts?

 

[jcanoe]

Maybe one of the brake calipers is stuck, causing drag. If you use an infrared thermometer after driving for a while you might detect one wheel being much hotter than the others.

 

[FI Spyder]

I believe those figures are just "guesses". The way to know for sure is to know where the ICE cuts in 0 battery on a given route. It may take a couple of these zero drives to re-establish the "guess". I don't know why it should change with the new bearing but let's say it has for what ever reason. When I got my car the full battery read 47 Km. After a couple of zero drives it reset itself to 66-68 Km.

 

[Steverino]

The car may have reset to factory defaults. See what happens after a week, that should be plenty of driving for the car to recalibrate (if that's all it needs).

 

[hellsop]

The car may have reset to factory defaults. See what happens after a week, that should be plenty of driving for the car to recalibrate (if that's all it needs).

Especially running it out of charge helps.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Hello,

So sorry to hear you're experiencing this concern with your Volt. Your satisfaction means a great deal to us, and we would certainly like to ensure your vehicle is operating to GM standards. To best assist, please email us at [email protected] with "ATTN: Bret" in the subject line. We'll get this figured out!

Bret B.
Chevrolet Customer Care

 

[Barry]

Is the range you can actually drive different, or just the dashboard range estimate and "My Green Volt" data? If it is the actual driving range, it is possible the wheel alignment is out. That would at least be a simple fix.

 

[thegame460]

The car may have reset to factory defaults. See what happens after a week, that should be plenty of driving for the car to recalibrate (if that's all it needs).

I’ve been driving it well over a week and nothing is changing. Depleting the battery everyday. It’s very easy to do with the reduction of EV Travel. My daily drive is 40+ miles.

 

[thegame460]

Is the range you can actually drive different, or just the dashboard range estimate and "My Green Volt" data? If it is the actual driving range, it is possible the wheel alignment is out. That would at least be a simple fix.

Actually Both. But the actual range is what I’m concerned with. There is no reason I can determine that would cause the change to happen over night. Prior to the repair everything was fine, afterwards not so much. I can’t even achieve 100% On the Drive Efficiency Screen, caps about 88-90.

 

[thegame460]

Maybe one of the brake calipers is stuck, causing drag. If you use an infrared thermometer after driving for a while you might detect one wheel being much hotter than the others.

I will need to check this. I rarely use the brakes, as I mainly use one peddle driving. But I do understand that with age everything wears. Still running the same brake pads that were factory installed.

 

[Barry]

Actually Both. But the actual range is what I’m concerned with. There is no reason I can determine that would cause the change to happen over night. Prior to the repair everything was fine, afterwards not so much. I can’t even achieve 100% On the Drive Efficiency Screen, caps about 88-90.

That would be consistent with alignment problems. Something could have been knocked out or adjusted wrong during the repair. I'm not sure exactly how the bearing is replaced, but it is definitely near the steering control arms and front suspension.

If so, you might notice a difference in the way the car tracks. Maybe it pulls to one side more now or the steering wheel is not centered when driving straight. But some alignment problems won't cause those noticeable effects. You could have the dealer verify the alignment.

If it is an alignment issue, it is not just about range, but also tire wear and possibly other things like wet pavement or emergency handling characteristics.

 

[tangolima]

5 miles per kwh for a volt? It sounds a bit over optimistic. 3.5 miles per kwh is more reasonable, and that was what our old 2015 volt used to get. Our newer 2018 volt is doing close to 4 miles per kwh. That is with the mild winter in southern California.

My 2016 spark ev is doing 4.7 miles per kwh, averaged over a year and 10k miles. It don't any volt can do better than that.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[Barry]

5 miles per kwh for a volt? It sounds a bit over optimistic. 3.5 miles per kwh is more reasonable, and that was what our old 2015 volt used to get. Our newer 2018 volt is doing close to 4 miles per kwh. That is with the mild winter in southern California.

My 2016 spark ev is doing 4.7 miles per kwh, averaged over a year and 10k miles. It don't any volt can do better than that.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

3.5 is about what I get as well, but under ideal conditions, the Volt can do better. A few people can actually get those kinds of numbers in real world driving. Apparently the OP is one of those people. He is basing this on his historical performance and on cross-testing with another Volt along the same route.

 

[thegame460]

That would be consistent with alignment problems. Something could have been knocked out or adjusted wrong during the repair. I'm not sure exactly how the bearing is replaced, but it is definitely near the steering control arms and front suspension.

If so, you might notice a difference in the way the car tracks. Maybe it pulls to one side more now or the steering wheel is not centered when driving straight. But some alignment problems won't cause those noticeable effects. You could have the dealer verify the alignment.

If it is an alignment issue, it is not just about range, but also tire wear and possibly other things like wet pavement or emergency handling characteristics.

I'm willing to try anything to get back to where I was before. With the limited range, it's becoming a challenge of sorts to maintain the lifetime 250. Thank You for the suggestion.

 

[thegame460]

3.5 is about what I get as well, but under ideal conditions, the Volt can do better. A few people can actually get those kinds of numbers in real world driving. Apparently the OP is one of those people. He is basing this on his historical performance and on cross-testing with another Volt along the same route.

I assure you the numbers are true. I hate using gas if I don't need to. It's probably the reason that I'm divorced. I went 1 year and 20k miles without it, countless nights sitting at a charging station for hours to make it home. I know I didn't need to do it, but I wanted to prove that it could be done.

 

[tangolima]

3.5 is about what I get as well, but under ideal conditions, the Volt can do better. A few people can actually get those kinds of numbers in real world driving. Apparently the OP is one of those people. He is basing this on his historical performance and on cross-testing with another Volt along the same route.

There are ways to make those numbers. Ultra milers have done outrageous mpg with an old Honda Civic. But for sure it isn't normal driving as we know it.

4.7 miles per kwh on spark was also made with some efforts, keeping speed below 63 mph and using minimum heat during winter for instance. With a volt, I probably would have to maintain 40 mph and occasionally might even need to push the car up hill.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[tangolima]

I assure you the numbers are true. I hate using gas if I don't need to. It's probably the reason that I'm divorced. I went 1 year and 20k miles without it, countless nights sitting at a charging station for hours to make it home. I know I didn't need to do it, but I wanted to prove that it could be done.

Please let us know how you did it. It is not about not using gasoline, but 5 miles per kwh in electric mode in a volt.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

 

[JuneBug]

5 miles per kwh for a volt? It sounds a bit over optimistic. 3.5 miles per kwh is more reasonable, and that was what our old 2015 volt used to get. Our newer 2018 volt is doing close to 4 miles per kwh. That is with the mild winter in southern California.

My 2016 spark ev is doing 4.7 miles per kwh, averaged over a year and 10k miles. It don't any volt can do better than that.

Just for the sake of comparison, on Monday I drove my 2015 for 40.8 miles and used 10.2 kwh, so right at 4 for me as well.

 

[thegame460]

Please let us know how you did it. It is not about not using gasoline, but 5 miles per kwh in electric mode in a volt.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Tires: 48 PSI (Cold), 51 PSI (Hot)
Backroads: 40-45 MPH
Interstate: 60 MPH
Drive: Low
Regen & Coast: Every Time You Can, Drive with 1 Pedal, Use Brakes to Hold at Light
DIC: Keep the Green Leaf Ball Center & Spinning, No Hard Braking or Fast Acceleration
A/C: None
Windows: Down at 45 MPH, Up at 60 MPH

These are the basic things I do that allow me to achieve what I was getting from the start to prior to going into the shop.

 

[Barry]

Ari-C did approximately 8 miles per kWH in his "famous" maximum range run. He kept the speed between 20 and 25 mph. So it is possible to get 5. It is just a question of how efficiently you are willing to drive. Also, with certain external factors like the right terrain, anything is possible, even negative energy consumption over downhill segments.